^Wash U is not realistic for this student’s stats.
What are your instate public options? Out of state public schools give very little financial aid, so your instate flagship U is probably a good option.
When you say that you will need financial assistance, does that mean need-based aid or merit-based aid? You can run a net-price calculator at some possible schools to get an idea of if you would qualify for need-based aid.
Missouri U of Science & Technology, Purdue, U. Maryland are some schools that come to mind.
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Purdue is not realistic for merit or need-based aid…unless maybe the student is instate. As an OOS student, they’d be full pay. Maryland may also be the same issue
Any UG is good for engineering student The question is a survival in engineering program, not the name of the UG. Survival in engineering program at ANY place (no matter if it is ranked last) is low.
In regard to OSU, it is very stingy in Scholarships. My D. who graduated at the top of her private HS class and who had ACT=33 and who received great Merit offers at other places including one private, got practically nothing at OSU that would influence her decision. she ended up attending in-state public on the full tuition Merit.
@MiamiDAP Not sure what happened with your D, but my experience (and that of my friends) is that OSU is quite generous with merit aid for good OOS students. I have several friends with kids at OSU on scholarships bringing their net to about what our in-state schools would cost. My own DS (3.8, 32 ACT) has a similar offer in his hands now.
@Chardo I believe @MiamiDAP is instate so that is the problem. I think tOSU is relying on in-state students being lured by the big sports so they don’t offer the same scholarships in-state.
I don’t remember the specifics but Michigan Tech has a lot of scholarships for students based on their ACT score (I’m sure 30 is good for something). If he can deal with the environment there, Michigan Tech should be a good choice. Purdue would be another good choice but I think it’s more expensive.
My S had almost the exact stats. He went to Michigan Tech and thrived there. It couldn’t have been a better experience and he did very well there. Got great internships and now has a very good job. Met his gf there and she has a similarly great job. A smaller tech-y school really made a kid who wasn’t a great HS student get involved in campus life and leadership positions.
"Not sure what happened with your D, but my experience (and that of my friends) is that OSU is quite generous with merit aid for good OOS students. I have several friends with kids at OSU on scholarships bringing their net to about what our in-state schools would cost. My own DS (3.8, 32 ACT) has a similar offer in his hands now. "
-We are in-state. OSU offer was $3k / year, by no mens it was in -line with the Case Western (private, very good in engineering) offer of $27k /year and the Miami U (OH), that covered fullt tuition. Nothing bad had happened at OSU though, D. was accepted to a very selective program there and they kept checking on her up until she let them know that she was accepted to even more selective program at Miami (only 10 spots) and Miami offered full tuition Merit. It just appered to us that OSU simply did not have enough money for that many applicants to offer significant Merit.
I am glad for anybody who had more positive experience at OSU. OSU is a great school and everybody that I know who graduated from OSU are very successful (engineering and others). it is a bit crazy in the football department though, but it is a bit irrelevant, and they have all rights, they were the top this year, winner is a winner and nobody can take this away!!!
I am curious about acceptances to Purdue, Michigan State, Ohio State in state and if anyone has any experience with Northeastern or Drexel. My son is a b/b minus student. He got a 34 on his ACT the first time ( 36 Science, 34 Math, 31 English and 33 reading. ) and is interested in Mechanical engineering. I can’t tell by looking online if these schools are a possibility for him. He has a challenging course load but his GPA is a little lower. ANY insight offered would be greatly appreciated.
Kansas State and Univ of Kansas - both may have good merit aid for the ACT score of 30. Both have respected engrg. depts. Can give better advice but we need more info, as @mom2collegekids pointed out earlier.
FYI - Ohio State Engineering is getting more and more selective with each passing year. You might want to look at the acceptance threads in the college-specific forum to see if a B/B+ and 30 ACT student would likely make the cut. On another note, OSU is pretty generous with OOS student merit scholarships and for in-state it is pretty formulaic re: class rank, GPA and standardized scores. They publish the requirements on their website. Right now the in state top/Maximus scholarship that is just based on stats alone is $5700 per year. But tuition at OSU is not all that high either bringing the COA to something quite affordable (especially for families who don’t qualify for need-based FA).
Oliver17, in my opinion with that ACT score he would be fine at any of those schools with a 3.3 or better unweighted GPA. The only thing it could impact is any available merit dollars.
What is a B/B- GPA? is that like a 2.9? If so, if a school requires acceptance into its eng’g program, then I would think that would be an issue. And some of these schools may not accept those with less than a 3.3 w/o some sort of hook.
South Dakota and Mississippi public universities have relatively lenient automatic admission thresholds.
However, students and parents need to consider whether the student is really ready for rigorous college study in engineering. I.e. is a 2.something high school GPA really reflective of the student’s ability and effort, or has the student turned something around recently so that s/he will likely be more successful now than in the past?
B/B- most likely would not be competitive for engineering at Clemson as it is one of the most competitive majors at Clemson. ACT is competitive , but GPA seems low. His FA opportunities based on merit only would most likely be limited .
What year is your son ? Kinda late if he is a senior so I assume he is a junior ?
One of my sons has similar ACT and low A. There are many options, he was accepted to 3 schools
and waiting on more.